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Court: Sex-Offender List Is Not Cruel Punishment

ANN ARBOR (AP) – The Michigan appeals court has overturned a Washtenaw County judge and said a young man who committed sexual misconduct at school must be on the state’s sex-offender list.

Judge Darlene O’Brien said registration in the case was cruel punishment that violated the Michigan Constitution, but the appeals court disagreed.

A man identified in court papers as T.D. was 15 in 2006 when he was accused of putting a chokehold on a girl and exposing her breast while another boy tugged on her belt. T.D. was placed in a youth home and completed therapy.

He was required to register as a sex offender when he turned 18. The appeals court says it’s not punishment but a way to inform the public even if the risk of another offense is low.